EXPLORE

She sat on the bench at the bus station and stared at the people busy moving about their lives. Some cheerfully chatting the day away, an angry mother with a crying child, a hawker who refuses to be ignored and keeps disrupting everyone’s peace, a chatty neighbor who keeps talking despite you having headphones on and you have to keep nodding when she starts talking about the corrupt government when really you don’t care who wins the presidential seat and a teenager girl sitting quietly by herself staring into the oblivion, she seems sad and depressed and you hope she does not have a note in that tiny bag thanking everyone who has been kind for the last 15 years. You hope that she realizes that no matter how hard it gets, she can figure out this thing called life or rather learn how to swim in the crazy tide.

See, everyone you meet represents a tiny part of the universe, they have a story that you know nothing about. They are a collection of memories that make them who they are. Some memories they would want to relive while others are kept in a little black box that is rarely opened. It’s amazing how we are all different yet have so much in common. Just like you, they have a song that reminds them of someone, a hangout spot that breaks their heart a little whenever they pass by, a regular coffee shop, a favorite restaurant and people who love and treasure them.

It’s amazing to think of all the beautiful and genuine people that you are yet to meet, all the beautiful songs you haven’t heard, all the great books you haven’t read aaaaah we can’t fully explore the universe, can we? And once you look at the beauty all around you, you realize how small you are in the face of the universe yet you carry a gift that no one else does.

So don’t be scared to live on the edge, to give a love so deep that it would put the ocean to shame, to go after things that make you feel alive, to travel and watch the sun rise on the other side of the world, to get lost in your favorite city and to wake up in places you’d never imagined you would visit. Don’t be scared to live, you only have one shot.